


snap out of it, lionheart

by jisungist



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Getting Together, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-06 03:08:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11027343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jisungist/pseuds/jisungist
Summary: it's all making him feel odd, the way junhui’s looking at him, the way his right hand is merely centimeters away from jihoon’s left one. “listen,” jihoon starts. “i get that you're new around here and i’ve been training for a while, but don't expect me to baby you or anything. i’ll help you out, but, for the most part, you're on your own. understand?”junhui keeps looking at him with his large dark eyes, and then tilts his head to the side in confusion. “what?”





	snap out of it, lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> i have 48593848 junhui ships but this snuck up on me out of nowhere. idk what happened
> 
> title from snsd's lionheart, as is obvious.

jihoon’s barely aware of his own limbs when he stumbles into the practice studio that night. it's late, not any later than he's been up until before, but exhaustion is seeping into his bones. all he wants to do is play the track he's been working on all day for soonyoung, which is why he's not entirely thrilled to see the unfamiliar figure in the middle of the room. 

it's late, but the boy he sees is dancing. there's no music playing, but his eyes are closed shut so it seems like the melody is in his head, and he moves gracefully to a four four beat. the choreography is smooth and clean and jihoon wonders if the boy made it himself. 

still, jihoon is too tired to be captivated, so he knocks on the wooden doorframe to snap the boy out of his reverie. 

“who are you?” jihoon asks straightforwardly and the boy jumps, looking like a deer caught in headlights when his eyes spin on jihoon. 

“sorry,” he says, and jihoon can already tell that he must be from abroad, because his korean is heavily accented. “i’m wen junhui. i’m new here.” 

jihoon sighs. his exhaustion has dulled by this point into something pulsing yet controllable, so he makes his way closer to junhui. 

“didn't know we were getting a trainee from china,” he says and it takes junhui a minute to translate in his head before he shrugs awkwardly. 

“i got lost,” he replies. the pledis building was barely anything difficult to traverse, so jihoon snorts. 

“how old are you?” jihoon asks and refuses to step any closer, because he's noticed junhui’s height and doesn't want to tilt his head up to eye him anymore than he already has. 

“sixteen,” junhui replies. jihoon’s only turning sixteen next week, which makes him scowl a little. 

“you're a bit older than me,” jihoon states, which makes junhui break into a smile, kind of charming with his large eyes and long-ish hair framing his face. jihoon can see why he passed the auditions now, even though he seems a bit shy.

jihoon’s about to give a scathing comment in response to junhui’s obvious glee, but then the sound of junhui’s stomach growling breaks through the silence. jihoon raises an eyebrow and junhui goes pink in embarrassment. 

he digs through his pockets and pulls out a few bills. “i’ll get something to eat,” he says, tripping slightly over the words and jihoon rolls his eyes, stepping to the side to stop junhui from passing. 

“i’ll buy,” jihoon says. he doesn't have much money, but at least enough for food. “there's a convenience store across the street.”

junhui shrugs again, so jihoon takes that as a yes and spins on his heel, expecting junhui to follow him out of the room. 

jihoon is used to uncomfortable silences, so he's not sure why this one doesn't seem so weird, junhui quietly following him out of the building and across the street. he buys kimbap for the both of them and they sit on the steps outside the store to eat it. 

“thanks,” junhui says, mouth full of food, and jihoon wrinkles his nose, eliciting a small laugh from the other boy. 

it's all making him feel odd, the way junhui’s looking at him, the way his right hand is merely centimeters away from jihoon’s left one. “listen,” jihoon starts. “i get that you're new around here and i’ve been training for a while, but don't expect me to baby you or anything. i’ll help you out, but, for the most part, you're on your own. understand?”

junhui keeps looking at him with his large dark eyes, and then tilts his head to the side in confusion. “what?” 

a weird lump is forming in jihoon’s throat. “never mind,” he replies. 

* * *

one of the many things that jihoon comes to learn about junhui is that he is neither shy nor quiet, which is made painfully obvious when xu minghao begins training with them.

he supposes that it has something to do with relatability, but jihoon can't get minghao and junhui to stop jabbering during practice. he almost regrets that he has to resort to threats, until he realizes that, no, he really doesn't. 

“sorry, hyung,” minghao chirps after jihoon snaps at them for the second time that afternoon and sidles back to his spot near seokmin. junhui just smirks and fixes jihoon with the same look, the one jihoon hasn't been able to decipher for two years. 

then he shakes the thought of it from his head. he doesn't have time for thinking about anything else but their debut next month, which he won't let go any less than perfect. 

and it works. it goes well until it's the end of the last day of adore u promotions and jihoon’s so so tired and he looks over at junhui from across the dressing room.

junhui’s smile is nearly blinding. he picks his way through the torrents of clothing and safety pins and bodies towards jihoon. 

“hey,” he says. “nice work.” he ruffles jihoon’s dyed hair when he sits down on the lumpy couch next to him and bumps their shoulders together. 

“yeah,” jihoon replies, not finding the energy to be mad. he closes his eyes. “you too.”

* * *

jihoon’s never had a crush on someone before—he’d never really needed anything like that—but junhui is new. it's been almost a year since debut and junhui is still unfamiliar, in an oddly familiar way.

it's their second comeback and things have been going remarkably well for them, but jihoon is still taken aback when pretty u wins on show champion. he's not sure whether soonyoung or seungkwan started crying first, but soon seungcheol is in tears too and he—well, it's hard to hold it back. 

he feels his face crumple as the other members clap and cheer and seokmin moves to the mic so junhui is the only one in front of him. there's nothing jihoon can bring himself to do but lean forward, press his forehead into the baby blue fabric of junhui’s coat, and screw his eyes shut to prevent the hot tears forming to slip any further down his face. 

he usually doesn't cry much (at all) but junhui doesn't startle when he sees it, just stands up a little straighter and lets him cry. he takes the mic from seungcheol to say a few words in chinese and it's sort of pathetic the way jihoon’s hand doesn't come off of his shoulder until he's too far away to reach. 

then it's over, and the other groups start making their way off stage, and jihoon just wants to cry even more when junhui comes back over to wrap his arms around him, warm and comforting. 

all jihoon can think of is how they  _ won _ . how the years and years of hard work paid off, and all he can think of is junhui. 

“it's okay,” junhui whispers, quiet enough so no microphones can pick it up amongst the noise around them. he pulls away to use the palm of his hand to wipe the tears of of jihoon’s cheeks. “you did it."

“we did it,” jihoon corrects, voice wet with emotion. junhui smiles, and it's beautiful, and all it does is make jihoon want to cry more. 

“yeah, we did,” junhui replies and it's the first time that jihoon realizes how badly he wants to kiss him. 

* * *

jihoon’s barely aware of his own limbs when he stumbles into the practice studio that night. it's late, not any later than he's been up until before, but exhaustion is seeping into his bones. all he wants to do is play the track he's been working on all day for soonyoung but—

this tme, over six years later, he lets junhui’s movements, the smooth way his arms curve and his legs glide, captivate him. jihoon has never been in love before, but he thinks that he might be now. all jihoon can think about is junhui, junhui,  _ junhui _ , and maybe that's why he overworks himself, because it's all he can do to forget how much he wants something he can't have. 

when junhui notices jihoon, he stops mid-step and scratches the back of his neck in embarrassment. “i couldn't sleep,” he says in explanation. there's sweat beading on his forehead and he pushes his hair out of his forehead. 

“neither could i,” jihoon replies, trying to not choke on his words. junhui smiles softly, tilting his head. 

jihoon thinks of all the times they’ve messed around, hugged, touched, for the cameras. he thinks of all the times he's studied junhui’s lips when he's talking during an interview. he thinks of all the times that he's caught junhui’s eyes during a performances, those dark enigmas blazing with passion. 

_ i can't sleep because i dream of you _ , jihoon can't say.

* * *

seungkwan, five years after their debut, is, rather surprisingly, the first one to date. she's a year younger than him and, when she meets the group, she makes fast friends with chan. seungcheol unofficially adopts her.

not to say the rest haven't had flings before: jihoon knows first hand that mingyu’s been kissing behind closed doors since he turned twenty one, but jihoon himself is way too busy for any of that.

_ too busy pining _ , soonyoung would say if jihoon said it out loud, but jihoon’s long since learned how to ignore him.

the pledis building has long since moved, but jihoon finds himself at the convenience store across from their old building, the one where he’d bought kimbap for junhui on the first day that they met.

he remembers junhui dancing and smiling and stumbling over his words and jihoon wonders if he's been in love with him ever since that day.

the little bell on the door jingles as he walks in and the old lady at the counter gives him a smile, like she's remembered him this whole time. 

junhui’s in the fourth aisle. jihoon has an irrational urge to hide somewhere.

“fancy seeing you here,” jihoon says when he works up the courage to enter the aisle. junhui smiles; jihoon’s heart does a flip. 

“nostalgia,” junhui replies and jihoon remembers sitting in this very same aisle with junhui, backs to the shelves and legs almost entangled after a long day of practice.

“buy kimbap,” jihoon suggest and junhui laughs. he picks them up off the shelves and adds them to the two soda cans in his basket.

junhui pays for the food, and the old lady gives the two of them a weirdly cryptic smile, like she’s remembered them this whole time, but to jihoon, most old lady smiles look cryptic. 

they sit on the steps outside the store to eat, and jihoon tries not to notice how adorable junhui’s lips look when he chews.

a silence settles over them. seventeen’s next comeback is in a week and with the hour of free time that they’ve snagged, they’re both here, with nothing (everything) to say.

jihoon has the irrational urge to confess, but jihoon is nothing if not rational, so he keeps his mouth shut and opts for leaning his head on junhui’s shoulder. 

“tired?” junhui asks.

“when am i not?” jihoon replies dryly, but it’s not wrong. the both of them could use twelve hours of sleep and an additional nap to top it off, but that’s not something that ever comes along with being an idol.

it’s small talk and they know it. jihoon doesn’t know what junhui wants to tell him, what he’s avoiding, just like jihoon is avoiding the confession on the tip of his tongue. 

“hey, jihoonie,” junhui says and jihoon doesn’t have it in him to be annoyed at the endearing way that junhui says his name. “what did you think of me, that day?”

jihoon snorts. “i didn’t like you.”

“i somehow doubt that,” junhui replies and jihoon isn’t looking at his face but he knows that he’s smiling. jihoon shrugs as best as he can with his head tucked into the junction where junhui’s shoulder meets his neck.

“i couldn’t really figure you out,” jihoon says, truthfully. junhui laughs.

“i don’t think many people can,” junhui replies and it's true in the way that junhui has always been so open and secluded at the same time. 

“i got it now, though,” jihoon says, swallowing past the lump in his throat. 

“really? tell me who i am then,” junhui challenges. jihoon knows that he's smirking so he sits up to look junhui in the eyes ( _ beautiful _ , his mind chimes right on cue). 

_ it’s do or die, lee jihoon.  _ “my type,” jihoon replies and waits with bated breath for junhui’s response.

“oh?” junhui raises an eyebrow, smile widening. jihoon smiles back. a puzzle piece falls from the sky and fits itself into his chest. 

“yeah. that okay with you?” jihoon asks. 

“absolutely,” junhui replies, breathless, and tugs jihoon closer, tipping their foreheads together, lips centimeters apart, and,  _ god _ , jihoon has wanted this for so long. 

“you in love with me?” jihoon whispers. 

“maybe i should be asking you that,” junhui says in the same low tone. jihoon’s heart is thumping so loud that junhui can probably hear it.

“maybe you should,” jihoon retorts and junhui’s still smiling. 

“do you love me?” junhui asks. there's so much behind the question, there's one hundred things jihoon could say but he settles for—

“yeah,” jihoon replies, and kisses him. 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope y'all enjoyed this trash piece.


End file.
